Chrome or nickel plating in OC or LA

[nagzul]

Looking for a plating company for brushed chrome or nickel plating. I am trying to find someone local so I don't have to pay overnight shipping both ways.

This is for a 1911. I am considering a melonite coating, but not sure how it will effect fit and if I can even file melonite after application.
Any suggestions would be most helpfull.

Prices also would be good to know.

[Citadelgrad87]

Check techplate in Anaheim, right near the stadium. They parkerized a garand for me and it was top notch. They do anodizing and all kinds of platings.

[foxtrotuniformlima]

^ what he said. Techplate is where you want to go.

[nagzul]

Thank you.

[ar15barrels]

Looking for a plating company for brushed chrome or nickel plating. I am trying to find someone local so I don't have to pay overnight shipping both ways.

This is for a 1911. I am considering a melonite coating, but not sure how it will effect fit and if I can even file melonite after application.
Any suggestions would be most helpfull.

Prices also would be good to know.

Nickel and chrome build up more than melonite.
No matter what plating you go with, clearances will need to be made to accommodate the plating thickness.
Just make sure you use someone with experience with the desired plating to do the pre-plating prep work.
Lots of people are surprised when they send parts directly to a plater themselves and then the parts will not go back together when they get them back.

The plating company will NOT do any gunsmithing work.
You want the gunsmithing work to be done BEFORE the plating work, not afterwards...

[OSHAman]

Santa Ana. Reid Metal FINISHING... NICKEL PLATING
San Diego. Best is GEM ENTERPRISES

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[nagzul]

Thank you Randell, I need to set an appointment.

[nagzul]

Does that include all the holes? I am leaning toward the melonite finish, but I heard it was hard to work with after. At this point, I think the holes are my biggest issue. The ejector is my concern. Leave it in and just plate over it? That's a small hole....

[craneman]

I will let you know about pin fit on the ejector using the melonite process in a week or so. The hole was pretty tight before the process, so I believe it will be about .001" tighter after the process. We shall see when I finally get my parts back.

My plan is to gently run some emery paper on the pin while spinning it with a drill motor to slightly undersize the pin. If you do this, go gently as I have done this in the past and it does not take much to go too far.

As far as threads go, I was told it was not an issue for others regarding the grip bushings, and those threads are pretty fine. Like I said, we shall see.

[nagzul]

Thank you! I'll wait for your update. I think I am going with melonite.

If I don't get the barrel plated and just the slide, I am thinking it won't effect lock up. Am I thinking wrong? If the melonite isn't enough to mess up those grip bushing threads, it is a pretty small build up.
I decided on melonite because Randell says it has even less build up than chrome, And it looks good.

[ar15barrels]

Thank you! I'll wait for your update. I think I am going with melonite.

If I don't get the barrel plated and just the slide, I am thinking it won't effect lock up. Am I thinking wrong? If the melonite isn't enough to mess up those grip bushing threads, it is a pretty small build up.
I decided on melonite because Randell says it has even less build up than chrome, And it looks good.

Most threads have several thousandths clearance so they are not effected by thin plating.
Figure on needing at least 0.001" of clearance on your tightly fitted parts as you will lose around 0.0002"-0.00025" of clearance on EACH surface.
A slide/frame or barrel/frame fitting involves 4 surfaces which will be effected by plating.

[pklin1297]

OP, MosinVirus on here had used Melonite on one of his builds, and he had to go through the process of fitting again afterwards, so if you get in contact with him I'm sure he'll be able to give you some more insights in addition to what you got here. I've only gone through it with cerakote and it was already a pain in the butt... I always worry what if I put too much clearance into the parts and the resulting pistol is loose... Harder to control clearance when you're working with only hand tools.

[nagzul]

Thanks Plinkin, I did talk to him in PM form. He was extremely helpful. He said the melonite is very hard to work with after the fact just like Randell said. My build is not overly tight, but like you, probably took pride in the slide to frame fit that needed lapping. That will be too tight for plating. So I intend to use the old slide file and some 200 grit sand paper wrapped around it and see if I can't get a little clearence.

I was leaning toward melonite, but Techplate has a gunsmith that will clerence parts before plating. That may be the decision maker. Of course there is added cost and time if I use their guy, but for a one and done it might be worth it.

I'll wait for Cranemans update and make a decision than. I can't say how much I appreciate the input from everyone.

[nagzul]

Well, I went with Melonite from Burlington Engineering.
I didn't like the matte hard chrome look, and my attempts to polish the side of the frame and slide were not giving me the results I wanted.
The matte black and corrosion and scuff resistance made the decision easy.
Thanks for all the input.

[nagzul]

Quick update:
I ended up going the Melonite route. The slide and frame fit, pre treatment, was normal. It had shot several hundred rounds and was broken in.
I had to lap it back in after treatment, but it took about 3 minutes. If you have a tight fit or haven't shot it alot, you might want to put alittle work in before. This treatment makes the metal HARD.

I came back to update the ejector pin, which I had concerns about, slid right in as did the ejector itself.
I am very pleased with this coating. It is all business. I had everything done but the extractor, springs, pins, barrel, sear, disconnecter and guide rod. They were previously coated and we're still good.

I will be plating a 9mm build shortly, so the thread wasn't a waste.